Sweeper



C. H. TAYLOR July 16, 1963 SWEEPER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 3l. 1962 F I G. 2

INVENTOR.

. H.TAYLOR BY ATT' I 30 F G 3 July 16, 1963 C. H. TAYLOR 3,097,383

Y SWEEPER med Jan. 31, ,19"62 2 sheets-sheet 2 c.H`. T yLoR INV EN TOR.

United States Patent O 3,097,383 SWEEPER Charles H. Taylor, Box 5, Chicopee, Mass. Filed Jan. 31, 1962, Ser. No. 170,220 Claims. (Cl. 15-41) My invention relates to a sweeper which is adapted for cleaning doors and oor coverings without a power induced vacuum.

The object of the invention is to produce Ia sweeper which is inexpensive, durable, eicient, easy to operate, easy to empty and easy to clean.

The 'full nature of fthe invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a View, partly in side elevation :and partly in vertical section, showing a sweeper embodying the invention as it Iappears during its forward motion.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view looking in the direction of line 2-2 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is 'a sectional view looking in the direction of line 3--3 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. l, but showing the sweeper as it appears during its backward motion.

FIG. 5 is yan enlarged sectional view looking in the direction of line 5 5 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 1, but shows a slightly modified form of the sweeper.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view looking in ythe direction of line 7-7 on FIG. `6.

The sweeper illustrated includes a casing 10 lformed of any suitable light and rigid, natural or synthetic, material and includes side walls 12, rear wall 14, bottom wall and top wall 16. The shape of 'the casing is advantageously made las shown, but the particular shape is not critical to the invention.

As best shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 6, the casing is provided with nearly central, iiree turning wheels 18 which are disposed on the exterior of side walls 12 and on which the casing may rock between the positions of FIGS. l and 4 in the manner, and lfor the purpose, hereinafter set forth.

Near its rear end, the ycasing is 4also provided with similar, freely rotating wheels 20 which co-act with wheels 18, to support the casing `during its rearward movement, or while it moves in the direction of arrow 21 in FIG. 4. Near its front end, the casing is provided with relatively large 'drive wheels 22 which carry, or which have their inner `sides formed into, ring gears 24 which engage pinions 26 on the outer ends of stub shafts 2.7. The inner ends of stub shafts 27 :are coupled, as at 29, to .the opposite ends 'of shait 28 of a brush 30 which, as shown in FIG. 1, projects beyond the front end 32 of the casing.

Wheels 18, 20 and 22 may be mounted in any suitable fashion, but in the preferred embodiment they are oarried by rivets y34.

The sweeper is provided with handle 36 which is pivoted, as at 38, for limited arcuate motion, las, ffor example, from the position iof FIG. 1 to the position of FIG. 4, and back. Inwardly of front wheels 22, I preferably provide a rearwardly inclined bathe 40 which facilitates rearward movement of the dirt which is thrown tangenitially by rotating brush 30, but which prevents the dint from moving back toward the brush. Placing the pivot 38 of the handle forwardly of the axis of wheel 18 increases the force with which the brush contacts 'the iioor on the forward stroke and eliminates all contact on the rearward stroke, thus improving the sweeping action and reducing the total work load.

The operation is as follows:

To move the sweeper forwardly, ior in the direction of arrow 41 in FIG. l, the operator applies forward downward pressure on handle 36. 'Ihis pressure tilts the sweeper about the axis of center wheels 18 and depresses the iront wheels 22 into running engagement with the surface to be cleaned. Engagement :of wheels 22 with the surface `to be cleaned rotates pinions 26, and hence brush 30, in counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 4.

Due -to the large diameter of gears 24 and the small diameters of pinions 26, moderate rotation of wheels 22 will rotate the brush at a very high rate of speed and insures that the dirt picked up by the brush bristles is thrown past bafe 40, or in the direction of the arrows 41 in FIG. 1. The dirt which collects in the rear portion of the casing is prevented by batlie 40 from escaping through the trent end of the casing Iduring normal reciprocation of the sweeper.

The extremely rapid rotation of the brush on the [forward stroke creates `a rush of air which entrains the dust and small particles which are not picked up by the brush. As the air loses its momentum, the entrained particles settle down at the rear of the casing.

To move the sweeper rearwardly, or in the direction of arrow 21 in FIG. 4, a rearward and slightly upward pull is :applied to handle 36. This pull tilts the casing rearwardly, thus raising the front wheels 22 and causing the sweeper to move rearwardly on center wheels 18 and rear wheels 20.

To empty the sweeper, the casing is turned upside down, to cause the dirt to collect on the internally unobstructed top wall 16, and is .then tilted to lower the front end of the casing over a `dirt receptacle.

Brush 30 is mounted for removal quickly and without any skill. kIt will be noted that, with the wheels on the outside of the casing and with the brush removed, the casing presents a smooth interior which does not catch dirt and which is easily cleaned.

The embodiment of FIG. 6 differs from the embodiment of FIG. 1 only in that the middle wheels 18 are carried by shaft 44, which is biased by spring 42. As will *be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7, one end of spring 42 bears against the bottom wall 15 of .the sweeper casing and the other end thereof is secured to shaft 44 by means off a pin, or the like, 45. The downward movement of the wheel supporting end of shaft 44 is limited by rivet, or the like, 46. As shown in FIG. 7, spring 42 is short and located near one end of shaft 44, but it will be understood that a -similar spring similarly arranged is at the opposite :end of shaft 44 so as to exert balanced pressure. By this arrangement, shaft 44 is subjected to a predetermined pressure which .is calculated to depress the front end of the casing to the extent necessary rfor improved cleaning.

What I claim is:

l. A sweeper including:

a casing having an opening at its front end and having its rear end closed,

:a brush rotatable in said opening,

front wheels supporting said front end,

rear wheels supporting said rear end,

intermediate wheels which are in constant engagement with surface to be cleaned and =on which said casing is tiltable forwardly, to rest on said front wheels, or rearwardly, to rest on said rear wheels,

a handle pivoted to said casing, forwardly of the axis of said intermediate wheels, whereby a forward push on said handle depresses said fron-t wheels into engagement with the surface to be cleaned and raises the rear wheels out of engagement with said surface, and whereby a rearward pull on said handle raises said front wheels out of engagement with said surtface and depresses said rear wheels into engagement e l 3 with said surface to permit continued rotation of `said brush by momentum, and

actuating means operatively connecting said brush with 'said front Wheels to rotate ttlhe brush in la direction opposite to the direction of the forward movement of sai'd sweeper.

2. rThe structure recirted in claim 1 in which said actuating means includes a mechanical advantage mechanism whereby said brush is rotated tat muo'h higher mate than the said tfront wheels.

3. The structure recited i-n claim 1 in which 'said actuating means includes ya pinion on fthe shaft of the brush and a tgear carried by a tfront Wheel land meshing with said pinion.

4. rThe structure recited in claim 1 in which said intermediate Wheels are `spring loaded.

5. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the diameter of said brush is smaller than the Width of said 'opening vertically measured and said brush being closer to the edge of the bottom Wall than it is to the edge of the top wall to provide an opening of substantial width, vertically measured, through which dirt can be discharged when 'che casing is turned upside down.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,972,870 Chrlstesen Sept. 11, 1934 2,026,414 Burch Dec. 31, 1935 2,054,194 Fineberg Sept. 15, 1936 2,240,683 Berger May 6, 1941 2,243,985 Sparklin. June 3, 1941 2,659,095 Himes Nov. 17, 1953 

1. A SWEEPER INCLUDING: A CASING HAVING AN OPENING AT ITS FRONT END AND HAVING ITS REAR END CLOSED, A BRUSH ROTATABLE IN SAID OPENING, FRONT WHEEL SUPPORTING SAID FRONT END, REAR WHEELS SUPPORTING SAID REAR END, INTERMEDIATE WHEELS WHICH ARE IN CONSTANT ENGAGEMENT WITH SURFACE TO BE CLEANED AND ON WHICH SAID CASING IS TILTABLE FORWARDLY, TO REST ON SAID FRONT WHEELS, OR REARWARDLY, TO REST ON SAID REAR WHEELS, A HANDLE PIVOTED TO SAID CASING, FORWARDLY OF THE AXIS OF SAID INTERMEDIATE WHEELS, WHEREBY A FORWARD PUSH ON SAID HANDLE DEPRESSES SAID FRONT WHEELS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SURFACE TO BE CLEANED AND RAISES THE REAR WHEELS OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SURFACE, AND WHEREBY A REARWARD PULL ON SAID HANLE RAISES SAID FRONT WHEELS OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SURFACE AND DEPRESSES SAID REAR WHEELS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SURFACE TO PERMIT CONTINUED ROTATION OF SAID BRUSH BY MOMENTUM, AND ACTUATING MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTING SAID BRUSH WITH SAID FRONT WHEELS TO ROTATE THE BRUSH IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THE DIRECTION OF THE FORWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID SWEEPER. 